


How to Catch a Butterfly

by jukori



Series: Misery Loves Company [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adorable, Adorable Monkey D. Luffy, Being Lost, Cuddling & Snuggling, De-aged Zoro, Family, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Fights, Fluff, Friendship, Fun, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, Love, Luffy is an awesome captain!!!, Nakamaship, Pining, Platonic Relationships, Pricus, Protectiveness, Teamwork, Zoro is awesome!!!, sea goats
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-05-25 16:38:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14981198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jukori/pseuds/jukori
Summary: Of course Luffy had to anger one of the most mysterious creatures known to mankind, and now Zoro got turned into a child. How are they ever gonna change him back? (A plot driven adventure story, focusing around de-aged Zoro, with lots of fluff - before timeskip)





	1. Pricus

**Author's Note:**

> This is the newest addition to my One Piece series 'Misery Loves Company'. I hope you enjoyed the story so far! 
> 
> If you find any mistakes, something that doesn't make sense, sounds weird, or if you have some questions and plot ideas please let me know! I want to improve my writing and am open for any help I can get! :)
> 
> PS: Reviews are awesome, and so are you!

 

 

“Meat! Meat! Meat!” Luffy’s carefree voice echoed over Sunny’s deck, filling each and every corner with bright enthusiasm. The ship bounced excitedly from one side to the other. Initiated by the captain’s infectious laughter a new adventure was about to begin… followed closely by a series of curses from his crew. How else could it be?

Meanwhile, a trickle of soup had found a way out of its confinement and was delighted to discover the world. Little did it know that the display of curiosity would ultimately lead to its downfall. All left behind was the occasional ambiguous plop and the vague hope that it was worth it.

“Jeez, what an annoying bunch,” the cook growled.

Tonight's appetizer had just been spilled. Cutting and mixing the ingredients, letting it rest, careful seasoning and the sprinkle of love that went into each and every step … all in vain. Now he’d be never able to see Nami’s and Robin’s pleased expressions when they finally would have tried his newest creation. How could he ever face them again? He wasn’t worthy. He failed. And first and foremost, he wasted perfectly fine food. Unforgivable!

Ready to kick some ass, he lit his cigarette in a smooth motion and stepped out of the kitchen. The ship shook once more and Sanji almost kissed the ground.

“Oi, cut the -,” His jaw dropped.

“Gomu-Gomu no Rocket!!!”

As his captain flew past him, he experienced his own mental parade of What. The. Fuck.

It took him a moment to process the occurring scene. The cook was used to insanity, still, _this_ was nuts!

 _‘Your body can stand almost anything, it’s the mind you need to convince,’_ at least that’s what good, old Zeff always told him. How naive. If he could see this fiasco of bizarre madness, he’d surely have second thoughts.

A giant pair of hooves dangled over the railing and stomped frantic on the planks. The legs attached to them were covered in short, grayish fur that turned slowly into a muddy white, while the hair under it’s chin formed a meager excuse of a beard. Dull, slit-shaped pupils stared at anything and nothing in particular, opposed to the rest of the monster, which was trashing desperately to get rid of Luffy, who had just grabbed the horns on its head. _He_ seemed to have the time of his life, grinning from ear to ear.

“Yaahhhoooo!”

A Goat? Sanji’s conclusion felt flat. From the waist up the thing had the body of a goat - and not the cute, cuddly kind, rather the hideous, ugly one. Weirdly enough it ended in a fishtail. The two halves didn't make any sense, neither complimented the other. In fact, they almost produced a completely impossible creature. Beauty may lay in the eye of the beholder, but this was a violation against nature!

“The heck is that!?” Sanji asked, pointing at the huge monster as the influence of absurdity waned.

The rest of the straw hats had already assembled, either watching, loudly cheering, or simply ignoring the spectacle for better health.

“What do you think it is?” Nami replied over the noise. Totally fed up with Luffy’s nonsense, she looked more vicious than the beast itself.

“A sea goat,” Robin clarified nonchalant. She, on the other hand, wasn’t in the slightest troubled. “And not just any. It seems our captain has his eyes on Pricus - King of sea goats,” Robin smiled.

“Pricus?” Nami wondered. The name sounded somewhat familiar.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Poof!


	2. Poof!

 

 

  
“Hey, Zoro! Sanji! You’re missing all the fun,” Luffy called animated from the monster’s back while struggling to remain on top.

Though, neither of them showed any interest in joining the rubber boy’s shenanigans of the day.

After cutting through his options, the swordsman decided to have none of it. Not even bothering to open his eyes, he firmly pretended to be asleep. Sanji couldn’t care less either. More pressing matters at hand. For example, worshiping the eternal beauty and wisdom of his personal goddesses. With hearts for eyes, he rushed towards their sides.

“Nami-swan! Robin-chwan!”

Rewarded with an affectionate smack on the head he drifted blissfully into the land of milk, honey, and concussions. Just to be awoken a second later. A shrill shriek pierced his ears. Instantly his foggy mind cleared and brought him back into the here and now.

“Gululululuuuuu!” it roared.

Silence… This was not a sound that was supposed to come out of a goat’s mouth - of any mouth actually. A pin dropped somewhere in the distance. The cook could hear it loud and clear, and if Sanji hadn’t been so occupied by gaping in disbelieve, he would certainly be tempted to comment on Brooks stale excuse of a joke.

Luffy grinned devilish. Like a snake, the captain slung his arms around its neck. He was ready to exploit the new-found source of amusement and constricted his muscles.

“Gululululuuuuu!”

His faithful crowd couldn’t hold it any longer. Usopp, Chopper, and Brook went down first. They bursted into screams of laughter until all of them ended up rolling on the floor.

“Best day ever!”

Almost strangling the pitiful thing, Luffy squeezed, again and again, coaxing one round of silly noises after another out of its throat.

“Gululululuuuuu!”

“No more. I can’t take it… please stop!“ Usopp begged between wild laughter and tears. They were having a blast. Out of the corner of his eyes, Sanji could see even Franky sobbing over the apparently brain-dead creature.

“Idiots…” The cook clenched his teeth. Was he the only one who could grasp the severity of the situation? Whereas the other nitwits may be fooled, he saw the bigger picture. The crime committed was outrageous.

“Bastard!” He confronted the unfortunate beast. “How dare you show your ridiculous self in front of the ladies!!!”

“That’s not the point!” Usopp, Nami and Chopper snapped back in unison.

Too late. An unstoppable train had set into motion, and he knew exactly how to put things on the right track.

“Yosh! Men, suppers ahead of you! Tonight there will be goat for dinner!”

Forever a pragmatist when his emergency supplies were concerned, he pointed at Pricus. You can’t be picky on the Grand Line, especially not if your crew included a certain captain, who had a black hole for a stomach. Sometimes though, this came in handy.

With priorities straightened, the rubber boy’s head snapped back. He started to drool and his eyes morphed into meat, whilst the goat’s widened in fear.

And then hell broke loose.

Massive hooves smashed and tramped in a rage, trying to deal as much damage as possible, to get away as far as possible. Wood splintered under the impact and Sunny toppled dangerously to the left. The Straw-hat pirates were flung screaming up and down - Well that escalated quickly.

“It’s going berserk!!!” Franky yelled into the chaos.

Suddenly lasers started to emerge from the panicking creature, dashing sizzling through the air.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Sanji sidestepped a pink beam aimed at his chest.

One of them almost hit the pseudo-napping Swordsman. However, before the attack could land Zoro reached for his trusty white katana that had rested closely next to him. He dodged, while simultaneously drawing his sword. Ready for action the Samurai faced the sea monster.

Zoro stopped, blinked, stopped, and blinked again.

“The heck is that!?”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: A Blast from the Past


	3. A Blast from the Past

 

  
  
“Wha - What happened?” Brook asked genuinely confused.

“Zoro!!!” Luffy rushed toward his swordsman’s side, or rather to where he vanished just seconds ago.

“Go-Goat-bea-,” Usopp stuttered in shock. “Zo-Zoro got hit by a goat-beam!”

Only a pink cloud remained of their friend.

“It’s my fault,” Chopper wailed “He was covering me.”

“Where did - ,“ but before Luffy could finish, the sea goat used the momentary distraction to escape into the depths of the ocean.

“Zoro…” Luffy’s hands tightened into fists.

“Legend claims that Pricus is able to manipulate time and alter reality. Whoever is cursed with his wrath is doomed to start over. It’ll turn you back 13 years in time. Of course, this is just a myth and our swordsman could already be dead.”

“Eeehhhhhh???” The little reindeer summarized.

“Robin! This is no place for jokes,” Brook scolded her lightly while keeping a sharp eye on their captain. If he had eyes. Yohohohoho.

“And what’s with that super dubious arbitrary number?” Usopp wondered. This smelled more than fishy.

“So, he is fine?” Luffy questioned wearily.

“Seems so,” Sanji replied and picked an imaginable piece of lint from his sleeve.

The captain’s shoulders relaxed, as he accepted their words as truth, and a path for curiosity was paved instead.

“Of course not, idiots! Weren’t you paying attention whatsoever?” Nami was about to blow. On board, they needed every single man, and Zoro was barely a help in the first place, yet as a kid, he would be completely useless. But Luffy wasn’t listening any longer. He switched between picking his nose and poking against the puffy collection of samurai-steam. It felt surprisingly dense.

“Oh no! what should we do? Someone call a doctor!!!”

Expertly overlooking the panicking ball of fur, Franky did the math, “So, six-ish.”

Nami sighed. Zoro of all people… Just imagining a little green-haired boy made her shudder.

 _Great, not another obnoxiously loud, hot-headed brat to take care of,_ the navigator thought and glared at the kiddie trio. They had their fill of troublemakers already, though he would probably fit right in. Disaster was bound to strike. There was nothing she could do - beside loathing her fate.

“Stop touching that!!!” Nami yelled furious at Luffy. Why did she have to be surrounded by such morons?

Robin chuckled. This could be very entertaining.  
.  
.  
.

“Huh? Who’s that?”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Specter


End file.
